A black armored van drove through the night alone. It was the only vehicle driving on the worn concrete road in the pouring rain. The bright white streetlights illuminated the path and guided them closer to the passengers' destination: Rainbow's base in Greece.
The van stopped in front of the sliver gate. A few beeps went off from the computer system of the gate before opening up completely. The vehicle drove until it finally stopped at the parking lot in front of the entrance of the gigantic white building.
When the passenger door slid open, 5 of Rainbow's skilled attack operators came out one by one. It was Ace, Lion, Montagne, Fuze and IQ. They had just returned back from stopping the White Masks' bomb terrorism plan at a popular mall that was filled to the brim with citizens.
Ace raised his arms in the air and stretched his body, "Man, that was exhausting! I almost got a scar across my beautiful face by a stray shrapnel." He chuckled as him and his comrades walked towards the entrance of the building.
"How do you still have any hint of energy after that mission?" Fuze asked with a thick Russian accent, his weak raspy voice further justifying the question. The other operators grunting in different volumes in agreement.
The mission was honestly one of the most tiring one in a while. It was 14 hours filled with nerve-wracking stress, tension and frustration.
First they had to evacuate the panicked citizens and keep them calm while at the same time having their eyes on any White Masks seizing this opportunity to wreak havoc. When the citizens were out of the way it was a exhausting gunfight that lead to a hair-raising 4 hour standoff between them and the enemies.
The team of professionals Rainbow sent were successful and served the enemy right in the end. But it doesn't mean the terrorists didn't put up a good fight too. The operators came back with some more injured and some who were less. Although they were patched up a bit by the emergency medical staff that were stationed outside the shopping center before heading back, those were simple and not enough. Regardless of the severity, all of them needed a visit to the medical station tomorrow.
"Oh come on, the day Håvard Haugland isn't being energetic is the day where pigs would start flying." Ace flashed a cheesy smirk at Fuze. The Spetznaz operator rolled his eyes in response.
A comfortable cold wave of air hit them upon entering through the automatic glass doors. They all headed into the common room to report that they've all returned to the computer system that manages the operator logs everyday. It's their equivalent of clocking in and out. One by one they use the machine with sunken eyes. All wanting to return to their beloved beds ASAP.
Ace was the last one to clock out. He shoved his operator ID card into the machine and got it back a few seconds later.
His original plan while on the ride back was to head straight to his dorm and prepare for his beauty sleep. But he suddenly felt like grabbing a snack or two at the cafeteria before doing so. Not seeing any reason not to, he sluggishly jogged to his next destination.
The halls leading to the cafeteria were mainly white with some occasional grey or black machinery or furniture. He never liked these kind of designs, he preferred places with a rustic and more home-like feel like the small instead of the cold and unfamiliar 'modern' architecture.
The large windows along the walls showed the empty dimly-lit parking lot outside made him feel isolated. The never-ending rows of bright white lights illuminating the halls irritated his tired eyes. Not to mention the freezing temperature of the whole building made the exhaustion even worse. His entire body felt sore and sluggish. He picked up his pace, trying to get this trip over with and not pass out in the hallway. When he reached around the corner of the entrance of the cafeteria. He could hear two distant voices talking to each other and a smell of a delicious meal coming from inside.
